Uniqlo Axes Chief as Growth Falters

Uniqlo Axes Chief as Growth Falters

Article excerpt

Uniqlo, the Japanese fashion retailer that arrived on UK soil less than 18 months ago, has dropped the role of top marketer Dominic Chambers amid a dramatic scaling-back of its expansion plans.

The company, which has opened more than 20 UK stores since its debut here in September 2001, has made around half a dozen departmental directors redundant, including Chambers.

UK marketing for the Uniqlo brand, which made its name in Japan from its no-logo, no-nonsense approach to selling clothes, will now be directly overseen by the company's chief executive, Masa Morita.

A Uniqlo spokeswoman denied there would be any cuts to the brand's UK marketing budget and insisted that its relationship with Soul, the ad agency that launched the brand in the UK, would be unaffected by Chambers' departure.

However, she admitted the brand had fared less well in northern regions than in the south-east of England, and that it was not now sticking to its original target of 50 UK stores in its first three years. …